The present invention relates, generally, to a system and a method for controlling the temperature of an environment. Such systems, typically referred to as refrigeration systems, have the ability to both cool and heat an environment. The present invention comprises a refrigeration system that is particularly effective as a cooling or air conditioning system for recreational vehicles but can also serve as a heat pump.
Recreational vehicles such as mobile homes, motor homes, travel trailers, recreational vans and the like, typically, have cooling, or air conditioning systems to provide cool, dehumidified air to the interior environments of the vehicles. Conventionally, the systems are single-stage systems. That is, the systems have a single compressor, condenser and evaporator and one of each of the system auxiliary elements such as expansion valves and fans. Single-stage systems, normally, are adequate when the ambient temperature is moderate, such as in the early spring and late fall. However, when the ambient temperature is high, the single-stage systems are not always able to provide the desired cooling effect. Consequently, to some extent, dual-stage or dual-circuit systems of various types have replaced the single-stage systems. In some cases, only one of the components of the cooling system, for example the evaporator, is duplicated. In other cases, the entire cooling system is duplicated.